World Class Gymnastics: Firm Seeks Space To Spring

NEWPORT NEWS — The proposed gym would give young Peninsula athletes a larger place to train.

World Class Gymnastics hopes to move from its current digs in a hard-to-find warehouse to a huge new state-of-the-art site off Jefferson Avenue in Newport News.

The business has gotten approval from city planners and now must get a nod from the City Council this month. World Class co-owner Tami Harrison said the business hoped to begin building in May and finish in 2007.

World Class wants to build a 24,000-square-foot building with 75 parking spots on Bell King Road. The current site on Middle Ground Boulevard has about 19,000 square feet. By comparison, the average grocery store is about 45,000 square feet, and a Wal-Mart is about 98,000 square feet.

"There are things I want in it that you can get through a new facility, like an in-ground tumble track and an in-ground trampoline," said Harrison, who owns the company with her sister, Tina Boyd.

The firm's current site is in the back of a warehouse building on Middle Ground Boulevard in the Oyster Point area of Newport News. There's a small sign announcing World Class's presence on the building. The structure has large garage doors commonly found on distribution sites.

"This is kind of hidden back here," Harrison said. She frequently hears from parents who are surprised to find the gym tucked into the back of an area full of office parks.

The company trains kids how to do everything from tumbling to cheering. It expects about 400 regular students at any given time, with 92 members competing on teams last year. The new building will include separate areas for recreational and competitive gymnasts.

World Class also operates a sister company, TNT Dynamite Birthday Parties. The new site will have three rooms where kids can have celebrations. And there will be extra room for the business's inflatable slide, obstacle course, moonwalk and boxing ring.

The new site will be in an area behind Office Depot on Jefferson Avenue zoned for industrial use. But city planners don't object to putting the gym there because it requires a large, tall building similar to many industrial sites.

Harrison was an instructor at Atlantic Academy of Gymnastics in Newport News for 10 years before buying the business with her sister in 2000 and changing the name to World Class. Harrison -- a former college All-American at California State, Fullerton -- has regularly churned out state champs.

Harrison hopes to have a top-notch gym that will inspire Peninsula kids and maybe help someone achieve the Olympic dream that she almost reached before breaking her neck in 1987. Harrison envisions future summer camps and after-school programs. *